The Secret in the Crystal
by acherontamovebo
Summary: Cammie is asked to join two mysterious agents on a mission to find a crystal, along with a certain boy...but after the mission is complete, she is attacked in her school and has to flee, Zach by her side. Everything seems to keep leading back to the crystal and its exceptional heritage. What plot has Cammie been pulled into, and will she make it out alive?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Cammie POV**

Tomorrow was the very first day of school, and the building was silent. None of the young, brilliant debonaires of Gallagher Academy had arrived yet…it was still just me and the storied bricks.

Liz had hacked into Mr. Moscowitz's files about a week ago and found his lessons plans for the month. She had then called me, Bex, and Macey immediately. It turns out Mr. M was planning a pop quiz on the very first day of school – I know, unfair right? So I was sitting quietly in my room, studying for the upcoming COW quiz when a soft knock came at the door.

"Cammie, dear, are you busy?" I heard my mom call.

With a near inaudible sigh, I closed my book and got off my bed. "Not particularly."

I straightened my shirt before opening the door. I was expecting my mom to be standing there with maybe a paper she wanted to show me in her hand, or maybe a glass of water. What I did not expect was for her to be flanked by two men. They were young (but not that young-early 20s), they were handsome (but not my type). And almost immediately I knew: they were CIA.

She smiled weakly and gestured to the two men around her.

"Sweetie, let's talk."

* * *

I stared at the five other people in the room in shock. Joe and my Aunt Abby had joined shortly after the two men had begun explaining things to me.

"So let me get this straight," I began haltingly. "You want ME to join YOU on a mission? A real mission? For the CIA? Me?" As I talked, my voice became continuously squeakier and I was so utterly confused.

"That's correct, Ms. Morgan," one of the men, Connor James, replied. He held out a manila folder. "This is the case file, in case you wanted to look over it. You can think about it, but not for too long. We need an answer tomorrow before noon. We leave the day after."

I must've looked shell-shocked or something because the other man, Andrew Peters, jumped in. "We know this must come as a surprise, but we needed two highly qualified, _unknown _operatives to join us on this mission and we decided we'd go with high school students. Nobody would expect that. We'd like to have you on board. Out of the hundreds of students, we picked you for your abilities. Think about it, okay?"

Something he said caught my attention. "Two? You needed two students? Who's the other?"

Agent Peters suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable, as did Agent James, Joe, Aunt Abby, and even my mom. There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Finally, my mom broke the tension.

"There's something we haven't told you…" She took a deep breath as if she was steeling herself for some kind of outburst from me. "There's another school, up north, called the Blackthorne Institute for Troubled Boys."

I waited patiently while she glanced at Joe nervously.

"And…it's a spy school, too. For boys," she finally admitted.

It took a moment for the news to sink in. But suddenly everything clicked. There had to have been a reason there were so many good male spies in the CIA and not just female ones. It must've also been where Joe disappeared to for weeks on end, and without notice. The way my mom had glanced at him had confirmed that.

My mind was spinning, but all I managed to mutter was, "Oh."

Agent James and Agent Peters stood up. "Think about it, okay? We hope to see you in two days," one of them said. "Goodbye, Cameron."

Joe patted my on the back, and he, Abby, and my mom left as well. I sat with the manila folder in my hand afraid to open it, but at the same time exhilarated that I had been invited along. Taking a deep breath, I finally flipped it open and began to read.

_Operatives:_ Connor James, Andrew Peters, 2 others still pending  
_Target:_ Recover the Moranes Crystal ASAP  
_Location:_ Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois, USA.  
_Note:_ This mission is HIGH-PROFILE. All operatives must be relatively unknown for mission to be completed anonymously.  
The file contained a high-quality picture of the crystal set against a black velvet background.

Immediately, questions began piling up. What was so special about the crystal? Who was the other high school student? Obviously it was a boy, but in the end, my mom hadn't really answered the question. What in the world was Navy Pier?

This all called for a huge Room 201 convention (A/N I don't know what dorm room number they live in, so I'm saying it's 201). I had a four-way call with Macey, Bex, and Liz going in a matter of seconds.

"Guys, I'm going to need you to get here as soon as possible…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! I hope this works, I didn't know how to do this whole bold thing last chapter so I didn't get to say hi to you all! This is my first ever fanfiction story, so I hope you like it! I read a lot of yours (in general) and it always inspires me! I want to send a big shout out to CookieJar Raider, who really inspired me to begin to write this whole thing in the first place. If you haven't read her story, GO! READ IT! IT'S AMAZING!  
I'll try to keep these comment things to a minimum so it doesn't bother you, but I just had to mention CookieJar Raider :) Hope you guys enjoy the story. I'll try to update once every other day or so. But I got really excited and couldn't wait to update, so here's another one today!**

Chapter 2

**Cammie POV**

"Cammie!" Liz squealed as soon as she heard the news. "That's amazing! I can't believe they came to recruit you!"

I half-laughed. "Not really, Lizzie. They just want me for one mission. And only because not many people know me. I'm anonymous. Many people know the _Chameleon_, but not _me_."

Bex squeezed my shoulders. "In any case, they chose you. You should be proud."

I rolled my eyes. "So I guess you're in favor of me going?"

Macey stared at me like I'd just sprouted gills and webbed hands. "Cammie, you can't _not_ go. It's too big of a deal! Go call them right now and tell them. I'm going to start helping you pack."

With an apprehensive sigh, I left the room to follow her command.

* * *

The helicopter was deafening. Its rotors began to slow as it lowered gradually onto the Gallagher Academy roof.

I had helped with plenty of missions before: with the Baxters in Bali (the one with the mouse and the torch), with my own parents in Slovakia (the one with the bowling ball and the paper bag), and even with Mr. Solomon in Cairo (the one with the creepy pyramid). Yet, I had never felt so anxious before in my life. I wasn't merely helping the action anymore. I _was_ the action.

With a gentle thud, the helicopter landed on the roof, but the rotors still turned lazily. Agents James and Peters jumped out and grabbed my bags from my hands.

"Ready?" James asked with a nudge.

I nodded. "Sure. As much as I'll ever be, anyway."

I climbed into the helicopter ahead of the two men and was met with a pair of startling green eyes.

"Whoa," I muttered, taken by surprise.

The next thing I noticed on his face was his mouth, set into a smirk, like in the five seconds I'd known him, he already knew more about me than I knew about him.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I didn't expect anyone else to be in here. Yet," I added hastily, trying not to sound completely ignorant.

He looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh. "It's all good." He stuck his hand out at me. "My name's Zach."

I shook it hesitantly. "Cammie."

I settled into the seat across from him but the aisle was too narrow, so our knees brushed together. I jerked back and tried to sit as far back in the seat as I could.

"So…" I said, trying to fill the silence.

Zach's smirk came back. "You look uncomfortable, Gallagher Girl. Are you always like this?"

I looked at him. "Like what, exactly?"

"Well…I don't know. Awkward?"

"I am _not_ awkward! This is just an awkward situation, that's all," I cried indignantly.

"On the contrary," Zach laughed. "I think this is the most fun I've had in ages."

"Hmph," I observed.

I was saved by Agents James and Peters reentering the helicopter. They took one look at us and shrugged. "I assume you've introduced yourselves by now?" Zach nodded, so he continued. "Good. We have a two hour ride ahead of us to Chicago, so plan to get comfortable."

Zach smirked again at that, and bobbed his chin at my tense position.

"Reconsidering?" he joked.

I just huffed and looked out the window. He just grinned. The two men looked between the two of us, wondering what happened, but didn't press it. Instead, Agent Peters just handed both of us another manila folder.

I opened it slowly and looked at the information inside. It was our covers.

_Operative: _Cameron Morgan (still in training)  
_Cover:_ Charlotte Astor, 16 year old girl  
Blond hair, blue eyes  
At Navy Pier for a date night with Riley Brooks (Operative Goode)  
_Likes:_ Music, churros, sailing  
_"Riley's" likes:_ video games, ice cream

Almost immediately, I was thinking "_Blegh_", and I guess it must have showed on my face because Zach said, "Oh come on, I'm not _that_ bad-looking. I think you can survive one night with me."

And I had to agree with him. He wasn't bad looking at all. In fact, I would even call his eyes stunning. And the rest of him…well…not bad. Not bad at all.

"No, the churros part. I can't stand churros," I responded.

He looked at me incredulously. "How can you not like churros? That like…" He looked into space, grasping for the right simile. "That's like not liking puppies."

I shrugged.

"Oh well. At least it wasn't me you were protesting."

I closed my head and leaned back against the rest. "Yeah, not too thrilled about that, either. I'm not sure you're my type. Tall, dark, and handsome can be totally overrated."

"Stop, you're going to give me a complex," he said, but I could hear the laughter in his voice. After a moment, he added. "So, you think I'm handsome?"

My cheeks flamed and I didn't answer. I could almost feel his smile burning through my eyelids. Jerk.

* * *

"Gallagher Girl, get up," I heard.

It felt like a moment later, and I realized I had fallen asleep. My eyes snapped open and I smoothed my hair in an attempt to calm the inevitable bumps. I eventually gave up and just threw it into a ponytail as I hopped out of the helicopter.

We were standing on a quiet part of the tarmac at the Chicago O'Hare airport. Agent James handed me my duffel bag and I hiked it over my shoulder. The wind was vicious, blowing hard all at once and then dying down for thirty seconds or so.

"Let's go," Agent James said roughly, herding Zach and me over to a nearby taxi. "Before someone sees us. We have someone in the control tower, and he's the only one that can know we're here."

As soon as he said that, the helicopter pilot started the rotors again and lifted off. I was stuffed into the small taxi alongside Zach, who looked at me like he was amused.

"What?" I snapped.

"Nothing," he answered vaguely. "So you ready for our date tonight?" I didn't answer, and he just laughed. "Wear something nice."

I bit my lip. Macey totally had me covered on that account. I had convinced her to pack mostly practical clothes, but Macey, being Macey, had also slipped in a few fancy garments just in case.

The car began to move, and I stayed silent as we left the airport and drove into Chicago. I'd never seen the city before and was excited. Skyscrapers raised the skyline of the city. It was only ten in the morning, but the city was already alive with traffic and pedestrians criss-crossing and traveling every which way. If I hadn't been trained as a spy, it might've been overwhelming, coming from a little town like Roseville.

"Penny for your thoughts." Zach nudged me.

"I wish you'd be quiet."

"That wouldn't be fun. In fact, that'd be pretty boring. I bring the life to the party."

"I also wish you would be less conceited."

"Who said I was being conceited? I just have a lot to add to the world."

"You add a lot of noise," I offered.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that. I don't mean to be rude. You're just hard to crack." He looked at me for a minute. "Hungry?" He offered me a bag of candy.

"No, but thanks," I replied.

"The hotel," Agent Peters interrupted. "Go inside and freshen up. Just go inside. The concierge will give you your key cards, no questions asked as soon as you tell them your name. You two should have separate but adjoining rooms." He smiled at us. "We'll meet you back out here at one thirty, okay?"

I nodded and grabbed my stuff. Five hours to myself. Perfect.

If Macey were here, she would totally be using every single minute to get me ready for my "date." But she wasn't, so the very first thing I did when I got into my room was dump my stuff on the floor and leave again. I had some important work to do.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! A short update, and more on the way tomorrow! Tell me if this is getting boring. I promise some action in the next chapter! And a complication! Oooh...**

Chapter 3

**Cammie POV**

I paused at the door that adjoined Zach's and my room, listening for the sound of the shower to go on. As soon as I heard it, I gave it thirty seconds before pulling one of the pins out of my hair and using it to push apart the lock. It took all of four seconds to hear a click – the lock setting in the unlocked position.

I pushed open the door and crept quietly into Zach's room. His duffel was set nicely on the table, unlike mine, which was lying unceremoniously on the floor somewhere. He had unzipped it and obviously taken something from it before going into the shower. I decided to leave him some privacy and just set up a tracker on his shoe and in his jacket, as well as an audio feed in his vent. Just in case.

I quickly crept back to my room and redid the lock, replacing the bobby pin in my hair afterwards. Then I immediately called Bex, Liz, and Macey.

"Hey, girls. It's all done. Are you picking up the signals?"

I heard some barely audible typing and then Liz replied, "Yeah, we got 'em. If anything fishy happens, we'll let you know."

"Good." I paused. "I miss you guys. See you soon, I hope."

"Miss you too, Cam."

* * *

**Zach POV**

I stood in front of the hotel, five minutes early. I'd scrounged up something to eat for lunch, but it hadn't been filling, so I decided to go back in and order something from the café.

When I entered, a sight met me that I hadn't been prepared for. Cammie was sitting at a table sipping a glass of water. But it wasn't her location or her drink that took me by surprise. It was her.

She had let her hair loose again and it swept over her shoulders in a smooth sheet, so much that it reminded me of silk. She was wearing an informal, short black dress that showed off her toned arms and legs. On her feet she wore a pair of gladiator sandals. Altogether, it made her cute yet unapproachable.

_Stop it_, I reprimanded myself. _Don't think about her that way. She's just your partner for this mission. You don't know her. You probably won't even see her again after this._

As if she could sense me staring, she glanced back at me, dropped a few bills on the table, and stood up. As she sauntered over, I struggled to breathe normally and by the time she came by, I finally felt like I was functioning properly.

"So, you ready?" I asked.

She shrugged and I realized she might've been just as nervous as I was. Our first real mission, our first date. If you could even call it a date.

"I did some research on Navy Pier. It sounds like a tourist trap to me. But I did book us two tickets on The Odyssey boat in case we want to get away for a couple hours. It leaves the pier at 7:00 and returns at 10:00." She flushed. "Is that okay?"

I had a strange feeling as I looked at the new color in her cheeks, but managed to laugh and say, "Always prepared, aren't you?"

She flushed even deeper. "Better than being caught by surprise."

"But where's the adventure in that?" I quipped.

"If it's okay with you, Zach, I'd rather not die," she snapped.

I snorted. "Cammie. We're looking for a crystal. The CIA wants it for something, but obviously it's not that important or Jonas–" I cut myself off.

I had almost revealed part of my crew back at Blackthorne. At this moment, they were digging up dirt on a certain Cameron Morgan. But she didn't need to know any of their names, and she certainly didn't need to know what Jonas had found out about the crystal from its files. She'd learn it eventually anyway.

But she looked at me curiously, like she knew what I was about to say and was wondering why I'd stopped. But she didn't ask any further.

After a moment of awkward silence, she nudged me with her elbow and motioned outside. "Let's go."

* * *

**Cammie POV**

I pointed out the window. "Is that it? Is that Navy Pier?"

Lake Michigan glittered to my right, and a long strip of pier extended out of the beach and into the lake. It was crowded with rides, a ferris wheel, even a greenhouse. I couldn't make out much from the road, but as we got closer, lights and boats and hundreds of people became visible.

Agent James drove us up to the front door. He turned around from the front seat to face me and Zach.

"Peters and I here have something we've got to take care of while we're in town. You may be on a date but keep an eye out for the crystal. It'll most likely be set into a ring." James pinched his fingers so they were about a centimeter across. "This size."

I gulped. "Something that size in…" I pointed outside at the chaos. "This?"

James' gaze hardened. "You're the best of your class. Act like it. One day, you'll be coming across missions where you'll be finding something like that crystal in all of Morocco. Learn well now, or fail later. Your choice."

Something in his rough tone tickled my thoughts. I tucked it away to analyze later, when I had a quiet moment. I looked outside again, mentally shaking my head. In this mess, it seemed that quiet moment wouldn't be until I got back to the hotel tonight.

And while I was at it, I'd have to check back with the girls to see if they'd found anything out about Zach. The way he'd just stopped talking back at the hotel seemed a little more than suspicious.

Zach offered me his arm as I stepped out of the car. I ignored it, but immediately after the agents drove away, he intertwined his fingers with mine and began walking casually towards the Pier. I had no choice but to follow.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Cammie POV**

The day passed a lot quicker than I expected. And even more surprising, I had a lot of fun with Zach. I was expecting more cockiness and arrogance, but when he wasn't trying to put up a show, the boy was actually pretty nice.

The weather was pretty nice, so we had spent a good amount of time with the rides and activities outside, playing mini golf and riding the ferris wheel. By six-thirty, dusk had arrived, and while we had kept our eyes peeled all day, neither of us had seen a ring with the crystal embedded.

I sat down on a bench. Turns out, gladiator shoes are not the kind you want when you're planning on walking around all day.

Zach raised an eyebrow. "Boat?"

I smiled and pulled the tickets out from my bag. "Thank god…" I muttered, as I handed the two slips to him.

"Come on," he said, helping me to my feet. You'll have plenty of time to sit down during dinner."

I kept an eye out for the ring as we walked down towards the dock. The crew was helping take pictures of every couple that went on board, but I immediately knew it was trouble. We couldn't have our pictures floating around as evidence that we'd been here today.

"Riley, we have to get around them," I whispered through gritted teeth.

"Just refuse to have your picture taken," he whispered back.

I felt crew members trying to grasp my arm and pull us back for a picture as Zach and I headed for the gangplank but Zach wrapped an arm around me and smiled apologetically back at them.

"Charlotte has a headache," he excused. "No flash pictures tonight."

But I heard a camera go off behind us. I might have excused it as the photographer taking a picture of someone else if I hadn't heard it was a digital camera. The crew had been using the old-fashioned, large-flash kind. Something was wrong.

I pulled Zach forward even faster until we were among the throng of people waiting to board the boat. We blended in immediately and fervently hoped we had lost the tail. One picture was bad, but if they were still following us, we knew many pictures would follow.

We sat down in our seats at a small table, making meaningless small talk. The boat eventually pushed off, but neither of us relaxed like the rest of the couples around us. This wasn't a fun ride. In fact, the whole boat trip had us stuck in close quarters with people that may have been tailing us.

A waiter came over.

"Hello, madam, monsieur." He handed us menus, and I absently ordered something. I was looking around for anybody with a ring on.

Nothing.

The waiter had a slight groove in his ring finger as if he normally wore a ring, but he could've just taken it off because he was required to, as part of his job. I tucked it away in the back of my mind, but I was already overflowing with information. All day, I had observed every little detail and, little as I liked to admit it, I was starting to develop a headache.

"This is crazy!" I finally hissed to Zach. "How are we supposed to find anything in this mess?"

Zach grabbed my hand as if we were just having a friendly relationship talk.

"Don't worry," he said in a soothing voice, but underneath it, I could hear: _he was worried_. "We'll get it eventually. We _have_ to get it eventually."

"Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen!" a voice interjected suddenly. "I hope you have a fine cruise tonight. My name is Adele. Just call me or the crew if you need any assistance for anything."

The lady that was speaking was a tall, busty redhead. She was wearing green dress that wrapped around her nicely, and a ring.

"Riley, would you like to go to the buffet with me?" I asked, turning to Zach. "I think there's something up there-" (at this, I nodded imperceptibly towards Adele) "-that I'd like."

Zach stood up with me and wrapped an arm around my waist. As we looked around the buffet table, I stole a glance at the ring on Adele's finger. A huge weight was suddenly lifted off of me, and a responsibility dropped on me, when I realized…that was _it_. That was the ring. That was the crystal.

A smile spread across my face. The hardest part about the whole mission was finding the ring. Now that we knew where it was, it wouldn't take long to get it. Hopefully.

I turned my smile up to him. "This is exactly what I wanted," I laughed while piling about five artichokes onto my plate. But Zach's face wasn't like I expected it to be. It was closed, expressionless. He was hiding something.

Hopefully, to everybody else, it would look like I was just a huge artichoke-enthusiast, and Zach just wasn't a huge supporter of that.

After we got back to our seat, the waiter soon arrived with our food. As I ate, I sat formulating a plan in my head. There were too many questions. What was up with Zach? It was like a cloud had just fallen over him. And how was I going to get the crystal?

Finally I got up. "Stay here," I commanded Zach. "I'll be right back."

"Yeah right. We're in this together, Gallagher Girl." He stood up with me.

I laughed. "Suit yourself, but I'm going to the restroom."

Zach immediately turned red in the face and sat back down. "Five minutes," he growled. "Or I'm coming after you, bathroom or not. And don't try anything funny. _Don't_ go after Adele."

His warning bothered me a little, like he knew more about her than he was letting on. I raised an eyebrow but left without saying a word. As soon as I was in the privacy of a stall, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Liz. Immediately I could hear clacking on her end.

"Hey Lizzie, I need you to look up an 'Adele' for me. I only have her first name, but she has bright red hair you can't miss. See if you can match her description with the name in the database."

I immediately heard the clacking of Liz's keyboard stop, and then Bex grabbed the line.

"Cammie, you gotta hear this. You will _not_ believe what we found out about Zach. We've been dying to call you but didn't know if it was an appropriate time."

"Well tell me now!" I whisper-shouted. "I have…two minutes and forty-five seconds left!"

"If we're talking about the same Adele," Bex started, but Macey cut her off. "We think she's Zach's aunt!" she shouted.

I almost choked on my own spit. Zach was connected to the target!

"I'm sorry, but I could almost swear you said she's Zach's aunt," I said, baffled. But it kind of made sense – his reaction to her appearance, his warning. "I guess I gotta ditch him," I said, thinking out loud. "He'll just be trouble if they're related. Or working together. What if he's honeypotting on this mission?"

I heard Macey sigh. "And just when things were getting interesting with him. Why do you always pick the off-limit boys, Cammie?"

I rolled my eyes. "Really, Macey? _That's_ what you're thinking at a time like this? And besides, I didn't _pick_ him. I barely know him."

Macey didn't say anything but I totally knew what she was thinking: _Whatever, Cams_.

"'Kay guys. Thanks so much for your help. I'll check back in with you later."

I hung up almost at a loss for what to do. I had just under two minutes before Zach would come barging over looking for me, and I had to get that ring and get out quick. Before I could think anymore, my phone pinged with a text message from Liz.

_Adele Whitemore  
Hotel Marx  
394 Michigan Ave., Chicago  
Suite #2214  
_(A/N totally made up hotel, address, etc. But the street is real!)

I had to smile. Liz was always prepared. I went back to the table and sat down across from Zach, sliding my phone into my purse without him noticing.

"So what's the plan of action?" he asked.

I buttered a roll nonchalantly. "Nothing tonight."

But in my head, I added another word to my answer. _Yet_.

**Zach POV**

I had had an unpleasant shock when I saw the ring on my aunt's finger. It was just my luck that _she_ had it. Being the professional that she was, she hadn't acknowledged me in any way, but I knew she was keeping an eye on me. Our cover was totally blown.

Cammie left for the bathroom and when she came back, something felt off. She was planning something. I could feel it in my bones. I didn't know when, and I didn't know where. But I knew I had to follow her when she went to make sure my aunt didn't hurt her.

* * *

**Hi guys! So, you like? Thank you so much to all the people who followed and favorited me, and thank you especially to Loveydovey3000 who was my first ever reviewer! You put a huge smile on my face 3  
So...next chapter, we see Grant! If you review, I'll totally send you a teaser of his dashing wit and humor haha. But just to be clear, I'm not DEMANDING for you to review...it really bothers me when people complain about not getting reviews, so I don't want to be like that. But just saying, if you DO review, I'll send you a teaser. But anyway, next chapter should be up tomorrow. I already have around fifteen chapters written and I'll try to post them once a day, or maybe once every other day if school gets too busy. But I won't leave ya hangin' :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Cammie POV**

Agents James and Peters picked us from Navy Pier at 11 o'clock. They looked as us expectantly, asking with their eyes, _Well? Did you find it?_

Zach and I nodded wearily. The rest of our evening had been extremely awkward. We'd made eye contact and talked, but there was definitely something off. Before we'd gotten off the ship, we'd stopped and talked to Adele and I'd gotten her business card. As we walked out of the pier, I had pointed to the address on the card and told Zach that's where we'd be going tomorrow to retrieve the ring.

Well, I had to tell him _something_ to be able to leave empty-handed tonight. After finding out his connection to our target, I couldn't let him near that ring. What if he really was honeypotting and ruined the mission right under our noses? No, I was going to retrieve the ring and turn it in myself.

"We're going after it tomorrow," I informed the men. "We have an address and some names. It'll be done by tomorrow night."

They just nodded and drove back to the hotel. It may have been late at night, but I still had a lot of work in front of me before I could go to bed.

"Good night, Gallagher Girl," Zach said before unlocking his door and entering.

I didn't reply, but entered my own room and changed clothes. I put on black skintight pants and shirt, and forewent the black mugger's hat that civilians associated with spies. Instead, I just bundled my hair up into a tight ponytail and tucked a few tools into my backpack.

In a minute, I was out the door, through the lobby, and standing on the curb. I hailed a taxi and jumped in.

"Hotel Marx, please," I asked. "On Michigan Avenue."

The taxi driver just grunted and began to drive, smoking a cigarette. He was in no rush, like this night shift was a total waste of his time. But sooner than I expected, we arrived and he turned around to look at me.

"29 dollars," he demanded.

I pulled out a twenty and a ten dollar bill and handed it to him, and then disappeared out of the cab. I ambled through the lobby and got in the elevator. I pressed the button for the very top floor (floor 32) and waited patiently as I ascended.

When I reached the floor, I scoped out the place. There was a set of service stairs in the back corner of the floor, and I checked around for cameras. None. I quickly unlocked the door and slipped onto the stairs. They went up to the roof. Perfect.

As I set up the rappel cord on the edge of the building, I thought over the building plan. If every floor was set up just like floor 32, then room 2214 would be on the 22nd floor, on the east side of the building. Hopefully…just down from where I was setting up the cord.

I strapped myself in and began to walk down the side of the building, watching out for curious observers. I had no intention to be compromised.

I counted ten floors down and then jumped onto the balcony, landing without a sound. I unhooked myself from the rappel line, but attached the cord to the bars on the balcony railing in case I needed a quick escape later.

I was now on Adele Whitemore's hotel room balcony. I _really_ had to be on my guard now. I checked around the door for bugs or alarms, and disabled the four that I found. Paranoid, much? I then picked the lock and held my breath, hoping I hadn't missed another alarm.

I slipped in and all was quiet. So far, so good. The room inside was dark, and I assumed Adele had already gone to bed. It must've been past twelve o'clock already.

I pulled a low-intensity flashlight from my backpack (okay, that doesn't really exist…it was just a flashlight whose batteries were dying…) and switched it on, careful not to beam it anywhere unwanted. I crept around the room quietly, searching for the ring. Nothing in the drawers of the living room area, nor in the front foyer. I skulked into the kitchen and as I threw the flashlight beam around, I heard the jangling of keys…in the door. Somebody was coming in.

So I did what anybody would do when caught in a situation like this. I hid, ducking down behind the couch in the living area.

The lights came on and I heard heels clacking over towards me. I scooted over to adjust my position so Adele wouldn't see me. I heard her sink down on the couch in front of me, and saw the blue light reflect over the back of the couch as she flipped on the tv.

Great. I was stuck. Maybe for a while.

* * *

**Zach POV**

I was woken up at one in the morning by my phone. It rang incessantly, once, twice, three times.

With a groan, I pulled myself off of the bed and flipped it open.

"What?" I growled.

"Well, hello sunshine!" Grant replied. "I'm great thanks for asking. How has your night been going?"

"Grant, not in the mood," I groaned. "Why are you calling at this ungodly hour?"

"Just think, it's even _more_ ungodly for me. Here in Maine it's _two_ in the morning, while it's only one o'clock for you. That whole time zone thing…Anyway, we're calling about your Cameron Morgan. Did you know she's a girl? I thought Cameron was a boy name, but Jonas finally cracked into her CIA file – man she had a lot of firewalls up around it – and it turns out she's a girl! And she's hot, too, man. You got lucky."

"Grant, just tell me whatever you called me for," I spit out, cutting off his rant. As soon as he had said "Cameron Morgan," I was wide awake. All of a sudden, it felt like my stomach had dropped out of me. Her plan. I had forgotten all about it. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ I reprimanded myself.

"Get this, man." Grant interrupted my mental tirade. "Cammie? She's…" He paused for dramatic effect.

"God, Grant, just say it! I don't have time for this!"

"She's the _Chameleon_."

I was speechless, so Grant just continued. "And she goes to Gallagher Academy, which you knew already, but listen. Her roommates? Well, they're all hot, too, especially this one from Britain, but that's beside the point. _Her roommates are the Bookworm, Duchess, and Peacock_. You're dealing with a girl with a _lot_ of resources, man. She's like…Batman hopped up on steroids. And she has three Jokers alongside her. Why are you tangled up with her? Besides the fact that she's hot. We already know that."

I coughed to get Grant to stop talking. "Thanks, man," I mumbled before hanging up, despite Grant's protests ("Hey you never answered the question! If we ever meet them, will you put in a good word with the British one for me?").

I was banging on the door that adjoined my and Cammie's rooms in a second. It was so loud there was no way she wouldn't have woken up to it. If she opened up the door, everything would be okay. But if not…well, I knew exactly where to go. The Hotel Marx, my aunt's favorite hotel chain.

After a minute of banging, I gave up. She wasn't there. I threw on some regular clothes before dashing out of my room.

* * *

**Again, like last chapter, I will gladly exchange a teaser for a review. It's the big fight scene next and I promise to send something juicy!**

**Shout out to Cassia Goode, if you're reading this! Thanks for your kind reviews and I'm so sorry I couldn't send you a teaser, because you're a guest, so I can't PM you. But thank you all the same! And also, I have gotten your request, and I will ****_definitely_**** add it into the story. Not super soon, because I have a lot already written out, but definitely by chapter 12! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Cammie POV**

I sat back behind the couch for a good forty seven minutes before I finally heard Adele's breathing even out. When I slowly stood up, I grimaced. Those fifty minutes on the cold hardwood floor had not been kind to my tailbone. But I was rewarded to see her passed out on the couch, still wearing the green dress from earlier.

She was also still wearing the ring.

If she was any regular civilian, I would've had no problem taking the ring right off her finger without them noticing, but I had no doubt Adele was trained. There was something mysterious about the crystal, and the CIA wanted it for something. A random person would not be just carrying it around. Nope, Adele was definitely trained.

I quietly pulled a Napotine patch out of my bag and slid off the smooth backing. In one fluid motion, I stuck the patch on Adele's arm and pulled of the ring. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up.

I stifled a gasp. Somehow she'd gotten around the Napotine patch.

"Oh darlin', I was wonderin' when I'd see you again," she drawled. She saw me staring at her and hiked up her skirt a little, exposing another patch underneath. "In case you were wonderin', this counteracts your little Napotine thing," she said, gesturing towards her patch. She peeled off mine with a disgusted look on her face. "Nice try, though."

She was taunting me!

By now, I had tucked the ring away safely into a locked pouch that opened only by fingerprint recognition (and the pouch, in turn, had been tucked into my pants pocket), but I was far from safe.

I started backing up, hoping that I would be able to reach the balcony and use the rappel cord to get away before she caught me. But the chances of that were slim. If Liz were there, she would've told me exactly how slim, but the problem was that she wasn't there. Nobody was there. I was on my own.

So since I couldn't escape, I did the only other thing possible: I fought.

Adele advanced on me with a slight smirk on her face, and I could suddenly see the resemblance between her and Zach.

Suddenly out of nowhere, her leg swung around on the floor, trying to pull me feet out from under me, but I nimbly lunged away from her and then pushed off again to throw a left hook at her. She anticipated it and ducked, grabbing my arm and trying to flip me over her back. I countered my weight and refused to be flipped.

"Think about it, Cameron," Adele pants slightly. "There are people beneath us and around us. They'll be hearing thuds soon. What am I going to tell them when they start calling the front desk to complain?"

"Oh I don't know," I retorted through clenched teeth. "My plan is for you not to be awake when those calls start coming in."

Adele shook her head like she pitied me. "Really, Cameron, I would've thought you smarter than that. You really don't want to be hurt, do you? No, no, I think the best course of action for you would be to hand over the ring. Take it out of the hi-tech pouch of yours and just hand it over. You don't know what you're playing with."

She extended her hand and I used her momentary openness to throw a punch at her face. Her lip splits, and she pouts.

"Now Cameron dear, that is no way to treat your host."

She spun around quickly only to perform a backflip and kick me in the chest. Ouch, that hurt. I heard the breath rush out of my lungs and I struggled to breathe. But when she landed from her flip, she still faced away from me for a few precious milliseconds and I immediately pushed down on the pressure point between her neck and shoulder. She crumpled to the ground, my jab sending her into sudden but very temporary pain.

Instead of standing up to face me, she ran over to the kitchenette and before I know what she was doing, she had a huge carving knife in her hand. Every nerve in my body suddenly went into overdrive.

"Refusing to cooperate, Cameron? How teenage-like. Maybe _this_ will do the trick."

I looked around hastily for a defense weapon and quickly grab the fire-poker-iron-thing. It'll serve fine as something to block that _butcher weapon_ with…

Adele quickly advanced, not wanting to lose any advantage she had. I spun and kicked at her arm holding the knife, hoping she would drop it. No such luck, but I was sure she'd have a bruise the next morning.

I lost some control over my spin. The hardwood floor was really slippery and my shoes had little traction, so my momentum kept me going. In my momentary lapse of control, Adele extended the knife and with the tip etched a gash in my upper leg.

I knew immediately she'd nicked a large artery. If I didn't get out of here quickly and staunch the flow, I was either going to pass out from blood loss or die from Adele's hand.

Priority number one: GET OUT!

I started backing up towards the balcony, acting the defensive. After all, I already had the ring. But Adele kept advancing with the knife and my back suddenly hit a table. I stole a quick glance behind me to see it was a long table used for dining, not just a little stand. Crap. I couldn't get around it quickly.

I was starting to duck under the table, but Adele suddenly rushed me and punched me in the gut. I felt myself collapse on the floor underneath the table. If her kick before hadn't pushed all the breath out of me, this punch had.

Gasping, I sat up quickly and scooted backwards to get away. It felt like my lungs were constricted and Adele still looked unharmed (although I could see the bruise starting to form on her arm).

"Cameron, dear," she crooned. "Just give up. You'll never get out of here with that crystal. You're good, but you're still a child."

Her last word hung in the air, taunting me. _Child_. I was a late teen, maybe, but definitely not a child. I knew how to do hundreds of things that, if I had just been a normal civilian, would get me arrested a thousand times over. I felt my blood start to boil.

As I regained my breath, I stood up slowly, taking my time. While I did so, Adele climbed up to the table in one fluid motion, holding the knife lazily as if she was about to drop it.

I gripped my iron poker harder and quickly swung it up. I heard it clang as it hit the knife, but I wasn't looking. I wanted to protect my eyes in case the impact shattered the knife and sent shards everywhere.

The momentum of my swing brought my arm back down but I pulled the poker back up in the opposite direction in the butterfly swing. This time, the blade did shatter and I heard Adele scream in outrage as shards flew. But because of the direction of my swing, none flew in her direction. Most flew immediately down to the floor, but one nicked my right cheek and another tore through the thin fabric of my leg and left another gash there. I could feel some blood trickling down my cheek.

Before Adele had a chance to find another weapon, I was running to the balcony as if my life depended on it. I guess it did. I heard her pick something up and then something was whooshing towards me. I ducked, but she hadn't been aiming for my head.

The drinking glass hit my heels and shattered everywhere, sending splinters flying. I'm sure some embedded themselves in my thighs and calves but my adrenaline was pumping too hard and I couldn't feel a thing.

Another glass came flying and it hit my back, breaking as well. Adele knew where to aim so that if I ducked, it would still hit me. I approached the door and broke it open with a bang. If the neighbors weren't up yet, they were now.

Adele didn't know I had a rappel cord on the balcony. She laughed.

"Really, Cameron. What are you going to do? Jump? Give me the ring, and I'll be letting you go. Without another scratch."

I knew she was lying. Whatever the story was behind the crystal, I was now irrevocably stuck inside it. There was no turning back anymore.

The problem with the rappel cord was that it was attached to the balcony bars with a carabiner. It would take a second to undo; a second where I'd be vulnerable to whatever Adele was planning to send my way next. But I had to get out of there.

I ran over and unhooked the carabiner, reattaching it to my belt. I was going to pull down on the cord and let it pull me back up to the roof (think like closing shades – you have to pull down initially for the string to be pulled up) when I heard a click.

I couldn't move. Adele had a gun – a small pistol, really – trained at me. If I lifted my arms so much as a centimeter towards the cord, I was done for. I could see from all my training that if Adele were to shoot, I wouldn't be dead, but definitely in pain. Lots of pain.

She advanced slowly. "Give it to me!" she demanded.

I didn't move. Air dragged in and out of my lungs, and I could feel my adrenaline dropping. I was suddenly exhausted and I could start to acutely feel the pain the glass and metal shards left behind.

She stopped when she was a foot in front of me. I was backed up against the balcony railing and she was so close that I could feel the air between us becoming heated.

Adele raised one of the larger shards of the broken knife and looked at me suggestively.

"Cameron, I would just hand the ring over. Or else you know where this is going."

She used the shard to trace the shape of my lips, skating over my skin. I could feel a few drops of blood pooling. The knife moved to my eye, and I didn't flinch. Didn't move. The whole situation was precarious enough.

As a drop of blood hit my eyelash, I blinked rapidly. It was irritating me.

"Oh, Cammie," Adele said, faking sympathy. "Itchy? Let me help you with that."

She was bringing the knife up to my eye to do god-knows-what with it when the front door of the hotel room was broken down. Zach stood in the doorway, looking frantic and livid at the same time.

That was all the distraction I needed. I leant backwards so I essentially just fell off the balcony. The rappel line lengthened and I felt myself falling. The rappel line was 500 feet long – 50 stories – so I hit the ground without a problem. I unhooked myself and allowed the cord to zip back up to the top.

I had no thoughts of retrieving the cord – I could afford to lose one tool. I just had to get out of there. My thoughts were scattered, but I could feel myself getting faint, so the first thing I did was run into a dark alley and lean against the wall. I had to let the blood on my leg gash clot before I could move too much or I'd just end up passing out somewhere. Great.

I took a quick assessment of my injuries (all minor except the thigh) and decided to limp slowly anyway. I couldn't stay in this one place. Adele would be looking for me. But I had no idea where to go. Chicago was a huge city, and an unfamiliar one.

I sighed and hailed a taxi. Screw my appearance. Taxi drivers probably saw everything in their line of work. What was another crazy, bloody girl at two in the morning?

* * *

**So there you have it! The big showdown! But, of course, the whole thing is still far from over… Zach's POV next chapter, I promise.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Zach POV**

I sat impatiently in the cab, not knowing just how much trouble I was getting myself into. My leg bounced nervously. The taxi driver had said there was only one Hotel Marx in Chicago, and I was betting that was where my aunt – and Cammie – was.

We arrived shortly. "Twenty nine dollars," the driver droned methodically.

I gave him thirty. "Keep the change."

I ran into the hotel lobby and stopped at the receptionist desk. The man who was working there looked tired and bored. He looked at me curiously, probably wondering why a teenager was running in here at one thirty in the morning.

"I need the room number for Adele Whitemore," I spit out.

"I'm sorry, sir, but due to confidentiality reasons, we can't give out guest room numbers," he said in a monotone voice.

I would have protested and said she was my aunt, but the man would've just refused again anyway. I muttered a curse in Russian, and the man looked mildly offended although he would've known no Russian whatsoever. I guess it was the tone of voice.

I plopped down in one of the comfy recliner couches in the lobby. I grabbed my cell and called Jonas.

"What?" he snarled.

I almost laughed, remembering my response earlier to Grant's call.

"Sorry to bother you man, but think of this as one of our night drills. I need you to do some impromptu research for me. Now."

I heard bed springs groan as Jonas rolled out of bed.

"You owe me big time, man," he muttered.

"Got it," I agreed. "I need you to look up my aunt. Her name's Adele Whitemore."

"Hang on," Jonas interrupted. "Since when did you have an aunt? You've never mentioned her before." But I heard keys typing on his end.

"Since forever. That's not the point. I just need you to see if you can find where she's staying. It's urgent. Like, I-gotta-be-there-_now_ urgent." Jonas didn't say anything back so I just drummed my knuckles on my knee. Cammie was upstairs. I knew it. But it was so frustrating because I didn't know _where_.

Grant suddenly grabbed the phone. "Man, you can't keep interrupting us like this. We just got into bed like…twenty minutes ago."

"I'm sorry. I already told Jonas I owe you guys." I thought about the Blackthorne schedule. "Hey at least the drill tomorrow aren't too hard. If there was any night to interrupt you guys, it'd be tonight."

"Yeah, whatever," Grant sulked.

Jonas grabbed the phone again. "Hotel Marx, Michigan Avenue, Chicago. Room 2214." With that he hung up, undoubtedly going back to bed again.

"Thanks," I whispered to the dead line.

I sprinted towards the elevators and ignored the dirty look the receptionist gave me. As I waited for the elevator to come down – for some reason it was all the way at the top floor – I thought about what I was going to do. Knock? Break in?

When I stepped out on the 22nd floor, a few people were in the hallway, griping about something.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Godd**n amount of noise out of room 2214," one of the people said. "Either they're having the dirtiest sex in there ever or they've suddenly decided to do some reconstruction."

"I'll take care of it," I said authoritatively.

Nobody looked like they believed me, but they all still walked back into their rooms. The hall was empty. I stood at the door of room 2214 for a while, sure that Cammie was in there now. Despite what the neighbors had said, I couldn't hear anything noise coming out of the room.

Suddenly, I heard my aunt's voice shout, "Give it to me!"

I almost barged in right there, but in my extreme haste to get here, I'd forgotten my lock picks. _Stupid again,_ I reprimanded myself. I stared at the door. The neighbors wouldn't mind just a little more noise, right? Only one thing to do.

I backed up so I was standing against the opposite wall. I ran right at the door and broke it down. It fell with a crash.

Cammie was standing across the hotel room on the balcony. Blood was dripping down one of her cheeks and down her calf and around her heels. There was a particularly nasty cut on her upper thigh, and it was bleeding profusely. Looking at her in that area almost made me blush, but my anger eventually drowned out every other feeling. Anger at Cammie or at my aunt, I didn't know.

As the door fell, I saw my aunt start for a millisecond, and in that moment, Cammie fell over the edge of the railing. My eyes widened and I almost rushed over to see what had become of her before I realized that my aunt was also over there.

"Zachary," she said pleasantly, as if I were paying her a visit for fun. She sighed and looked around the room. "I don't believe I'll be invited back to the Hotel Marx anytime soon. It's too bad. I truly enjoy their service," she lamented, as if that were the worst thing to happen tonight.

My eyes were hard, and I could barely stand to be in the same room as _her_. She was my relation, and I almost felt sick about it. And obviously Cammie didn't trust me. So I decided I better not say anything I would regret later, so I just turned and left.

"Visit again soon, Zachary!" Adele called after me. "Or maybe don't. After all, you cost me that ring."

She wasn't coming after me, but I knew she wouldn't forget what had happened. I'd just have to be extra careful next time I saw her.

As I waited in the elevator, descending, my thoughts immediately fell to Cammie. First of all, if she was okay. She had looked pretty banged up. Second, what she was planning to do with the ring. And third, what I had gotten myself into with her.

I couldn't stop thinking about her – the way her hair smelled, the way she smiled quietly to herself when she was happy, the way she twisted her fingers when she was thinking. It was a chronic loop that ran through my mind.

_You barely know her, and she doesn't trust you,_ a part of me screamed. But there was another part that thought, _But her smile…_

I sighed. It would all be over soon anyway. We had the ring. As soon as we turned it in to the agents, we were done. It was back to Blackthorne and Gallagher for us. It didn't matter what I felt. _Which was nothing_, I tried to tell myself. _I don't like Cammie._

* * *

**Hi guys, sorry for the bad things and…references (ahem…) in there. I just thought it was probably realistic that hotel guests would think that stuff…I mean it is a hotel… Zammie real soon! Tell me if things are going too slowly, or if it's getting boring and stuff like that.**

**Teaser for a review, and next chapter has a lot of moments between the two! Not exactly _Zammie_, I think, but maybe you could consider it that. I'm still trying to ease into their relationship. I hope you liked this chapter, though.**

**On another note, I've started another short story called "The Interrogation by Agent McHenry" and it's a little humor piece. If you guys could check it out for me and let me know what you think! It's a lot more fun than this story, I think, and I hope you guys like it, too. I'm updating that everyday, too. I already have that whole story written out because it's short, so I'll just be consistently updating every day. For...maybe another two days. Because it's short :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Cammie POV**

I looked terrible. The moment I back to my hotel room, I threw the ring – still inside the fingerprint pouch – into the safe, locking it up with a fifteen-digit code. I then headed to the bathroom.

I winced when I looked in the mirror. My hair was falling out of the ponytail, but that was far from the worst of it. The cut on my cheek had stopped bleeding, but dried blood ran a trail down my face. The gash in my leg was starting to slow bleeding but it hurt like a bear. There were still little shards of glass stuck in my heels, calves, and thighs, and blood dripped out of some of those cuts as well. Altogether, I was a mess.

I sighed and began to clean up. First I cleaned off all dried blood and then grabbed the tweezers, preparing for a long and painful night. But before I could focus on a glass shard and pull it out, a banging came on my door.

"Cammie, open this door now," Zach commanded.

I ignored him.

"Cammie, if you don't open this door, I'm going to break it down," he threatened.

I'd seen what he'd done to Adele's door and didn't think our hotel staff would appreciate that gesture very much. So I hobbled over to the door and threw it open, glaring at his hulking form. He pushed past me and into the room, brushing some of my injuries as he did so. I gasped quietly.

He looked back at me, some concern clouding his face. "Sorry." But it cleared right up. "What were you thinking?" he demanded. "Why would you go by yourself? I knew your story about finding her tomorrow at her office was bogus, but I didn't think you were this stupid."

"I wasn't being stupid," I replied quietly, not meeting his eyes. I sat down on the couch next to a lamp and began the agonizing process of pulling out the glass. A hiss escaped my mouth.

Zach was suddenly crouching in front of me. He gently plucked the tweezers from my fingers and focused on the glass shards himself.

"Really, Gallagher Girl. Don't they teach strategy to you at that fancy boarding school? Or even this thing called common sense? Why didn't you take me along?" His voice was gentle, and his hands weren't nearly as shaky as mine had been.

"It was nothing," I said, wincing when he pulled another piece out. "I couldn't sleep, that's all. I decided to go out and do some work, and didn't want to wake you up. And one thing led to another, and I ended up at Adele's apartment."

I couldn't meet his eyes while I lied. Maybe it made me a bad spy, or maybe it made me a silly girl. But all I knew was that if I really looked at him while lying, I'd end up blurting out the truth. But I had too much to protect to be doing that, so I just looked away.

I saw his jaw working as if he knew I was pushing him away, but he didn't comment on it. Instead he sat with me for a good twenty minutes in comfortable silence and pulled out every last shard of glass. I was glad he was doing it; his hands were a lot steadier than mine would've been, and made the whole process less excruciating.

Finally, he set down the tweezers and brushed all of the glass into his palm. He stood up and threw them into the trash. With almost a remorseful expression, he looked at me.

"You'll want to shower and bandage that up before you go to bed," he said.

And then he was gone.

**Zach POV**

After all that thinking in the elevator and cab ride home, I still had no idea what to say to Cammie. But I banged on her door anyway, demanding that she open up.

She had cleaned most of the blood off already and was holding a pair of tweezers in her hand. I brushed past her, angry. More at myself than at her, but angry nonetheless. I heard her gasp and I turned around to look at her, realizing I had brushed against one of her injuries.

I bit my cheek. I didn't want Cammie to be hurt, I realized. Especially not on my account. "Sorry," I mumbled inadequately. Seeing her up close just made me angrier at my aunt. "What were you thinking?" I demanded, before I realized I probably sounded like I was angry at her. I wasn't – I just wanted her to be safe. But all my frustration just came out.

"Why would you go by yourself? I knew your story about finding her tomorrow at her office was bogus, but I didn't think you were this stupid."

Cammie protested my accusation quietly and sat down on the couch, pulling one foot closer to her. She bent over it and used the tweezer to grab hold of a piece of glass and pulled it out. She hissed quietly, and I winced on her account. Seeing her hands were shaking, I put my warm hands over her freezing cold ones and gently took the tweezers. Her hands fell uselessly into her lap. I focused on her foot, pulling another shard out.

"Really, Gallagher Girl. Don't they teach strategy to you at that fancy boarding school? Or even this thing called common sense? Why didn't you take me along?" I asked, but I already knew. It was because she knew. She _knew_ about Adele Whitemore being my aunt.

She gave me some lie, but it barely processed once it passed my ears. However, I did register her intakes of breath each time I pulled out a piece of glass, and I clenched my teeth in frustration. Why did she have to put herself in crazy situations like that?

By the time I was done, there was too much to say and there was nothing to say. So I settled for muttering something about "taking care" and then let myself out of her room. As soon as the door closed behind me, I sagged against it and wondered what had come over me.

I entered my room again and was about to dial for Grant when I realized exactly how beat-up I would be if I dared to disturb their sleep again (Answer: very). I sighed, knowing I had to wait until tomorrow to talk to them about everything that had happened.

* * *

**So a really short chapter, but a lot of moments between the two, so I hope that kind of makes up for it. Things will be picking up again soon! As always, a teaser for a review :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**Cammie POV**

I was woken up by a loud and incessant banging on my door.

"Charlotte! Get up!" someone shouted, and I groaned. It was the agents. They were probably here to interrogate me about my midnight trip.

But I opened the door anyway and they stormed in.

"What were you thinking?" they reprimanded.

I yawned, thinking I'd already heard this whole spiel from Zach. Instead of answering them, I asked, "What time is it?" I glanced at the clock. Six-thirty AM. I'd had barely four hours of sleep. Great.

I padded over to the safe and entered the code. I pulled out the pouch, and then pulled out the ring. When I turned around, Agent James' hand was already outstretched, waiting. I dropped it in his hand and said, "Here. Save the speech. Take the thing, and then take me home, please."

Agent Peters looked at me a little funnily, but grabbed Agent James by the arm and pulled him out of my room. Right before they exited, he looked back and ordered, "Pack."

Thank God.

As soon as my door shut, I pulled out my phone and called Bex, Liz, and Macey. It was breakfast time at Gallagher, so I could hear the noises of the Grand Hall in the background as they screamed into the phone.

"Cammie!"

"How did it go!"

"Are you hurt?"

"Why did you need to know about Adele?"

"Are you coming home yet?"

"We miss you!"

All of a sudden, I felt like I could laugh out loud. I had the best friends in the world. "I'll tell you the story," I giggled, "but you'll have to agree not to interrupt me, or I'll never finish."

They agreed, so I talked while I packed, and of course, there were interruptions galore. But I laughed for the first time about the whole mission and was even able to crack a joke or two about how gaudy the ring had looked on Adele's finger.

Right before I hung up the phone, I clutched it tightly and whispered, "I miss you guys. Missions are _so_ not the same without you."

They all laughed at that, and I knew we were all ready to be back together again.

I hung up and finished packing. Another knock came at my door, and it was Agent Peters again. He looked at my stuff sitting neatly on the couch.

"Ready? Let's go."

He helped me take my bag and then we went down to the lobby. With a little drop of my heart, I noticed Zach wasn't with us, but I brushed it off. He was probably late or something. Typical.

The taxi ride back to the airport was silent. It was a silence made even louder by Zach's absence. Admittedly, he would have annoyed me to pieces, but at least he would have had something witty to say. But I didn't ask about him. I didn't want to bring up the tension between us anymore than was absolutely necessary.

"Goodbye, Cammie," Agent Peters said kindly as I stepped out of the helicopter two hours later. "Don't forget to write that report and turn it in to the Director within the week. Here's a slip to excuse one day's worth of homework so you have time to do it." He handed me a pink sheet of paper. "Good luck, Cammie."

I tucked the paper away and watched the helicopter rise up again and fly away. I soon heard a _humph_ noise behind me.

"And we thought you'd be tearing down to our room to see us," a British voice said in a fake-hurt voice.

I turned with a gigantic smile on my face. I dropped my things and ran over, hugging them so tightly it must've hurt. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you guys," I rambled. "I missed you so much! How's school been? What does Mr. Smith look like this year? I can't believe I missed the first few days of school!"

Liz pulled us down to the bedroom and locked the door before she said anything. "Everything's been great, Cam, but we have some really important stuff to tell you. About Zach."

I grimaced. "I don't really need to know, Lizzie. The mission's over, and chances are, I'll never see him again. I don't think there's really any point in telling me all that stuff. His choices are his choices and they'll probably never affect me again, anyway."

Liz shrugged. "We're still going to talk your ear off by the end of the night. It might as well be about something interesting."

* * *

**Zach POV**

I woke up with an ear-splitting headache. For a moment, I couldn't remember why, but then the previous night's events came rushing back to me.

Oh right. Cammie.

I checked the clock. It was eight in the morning. I was almost surprised that the agents hadn't come to wake me up yet. I would've thought spies were more morning people. After all, that's when the world is quietest.

But I dismissed the thought and pulled my phone off the nightstand. Without ever getting out of bed, I dialed Grant and set the phone on my ear, preparing for a boatload of questions.

"So where you off to today, champ?" Grant chirped in lieu of a greeting.

"Home, hopefully," I groaned.

There was silence on the other end.

"What happened, man? You sound terrible. Not like sore-throat terrible, but like depressed terrible. Oh man, what did Hot Blondie do to you? Oh my god, you guys didn't like…_do it_, did you?"

My nose wrinkled. "Grant," I groused. "Shut up. You're gross."

"Okay, hang on, let me get Jonas and Nick over here." I heard a little bit of scuffling in the background before Grant's voice filled the line again. "Explain," he demanded.

"Um, well…" I didn't know where to start. So I just began from the very beginning, when Cammie hopped in the helicopter and blinked those big blue eyes at me in surprise. I talked about her hesitancy around me, her smile, and finally what she did. It was uncomfortable at first, but as soon as I got on a roll, it was hard to stop.

When I finally had finished, Grant chuckled. "Zachy has a new crush," he teased.

If he had been next to me, I would've punched him. "Stop it. No, I don't. I barely know her."

Jonas finally piped in. "You should've heard the way you just kept going _on_ and _on_ about her, Zach. According to my mathematical model, all that talking probably means you do. Granted, we can't see you, so we can't pick up on visual cues like faraway eyes, or blushing, but I still think it's safe to say you do, in fact, like Cammie."

"You guys suck," I groaned. I was perfectly fine with my denial, but my friends were adamant that I get over it. And so while I didn't say it, I knew my friends felt it: a silent admission about Cammie.

"Get home soon, man," Nick joined in. "We got some news that you'll like, I think. Especially now that you got to know…well, you know…_her_."

My interest was piqued. "I'll try," I promised. I hung up.

I went to knock on the door between me and Cammie's rooms. The sound lingered in the air for a little, but nobody answered. I couldn't imagine that she'd be so mad at me that she wouldn't answer, but then again, I didn't know the workings of a female mind. Maybe girls were as crazy as Grant said.

I gave up and went down the hall to find Agent James and Agent Peters instead. Neither answered their doors, either. Weird.

When I came back to my apartment, I noticed a sheet of paper on the kitchenette counter that I hadn't seen before. It was from them.

_Zach,_

_Something happened last night?_

_We took Cammie back to her school._

_There's another helicopter up on the roof for when you're ready to go home._

_Best, Agents James/Peters_

Weird. The whole thing was so sudden, I didn't know what to think. I didn't know if it was a good or bad thing I never said goodbye to Cammie. We didn't exactly end on the happiest of notes, but I also half-wanted the chance to say bye.

But Nick said they had news! And about Cammie! I had a feeling things were going to get interesting soon.

* * *

**Cammie POV**

I sat in slight shock as Macey, Bex, and Liz narrated the story for me, with help from audio clips stored on Liz's computer.

"The audio bug we placed in Zach's room was a high-intensity bug," Liz had explained. "Basically, it picks up the smallest sound. So we got a lot of meaningless stuff like bugs running through the vents, but we also got some interesting audio footage that you might want to hear. One was from last night at one, and another from eight this morning, when you were on the 'copter." She pressed play on one clip.

_"What?" a voice that I recognized as Zach's growled._

_ "Well, hello sunshine," a tinny voice replied._ Liz looked at me. "We think that was over the phone." The tinny voice continued. _"I'm great, thanks for asking. How has your night been going?"_

_ "Grant, not in the mood," Zach groaned. "Why are you calling me at this ungodly hour."_

_ There was then a lot of rambling by the aforementioned Grant until Zach cut him off._

_ "Grant, just tell me whatever you called me for."_

_ "Get this, man," Grant interrupted. "Cammie? She's…_ /CUT/_ She's the Chameleon."_

_ There was then a long pause, and then Zach just said "Thanks man" and then hung up._

"Weird, isn't it?" Bex asked. "Zach has a crew, just like you had us, and they were researching you just like we were him. Which means their school must be every bit as good as ours if they got through the CIA's firewalls on Cammie."

I sat and thought for a moment. Finally I nodded. "What's the other thing you wanted to show me? The one from this morning."

Macey grinned evilly. "Maybe we should just keep that one to ourselves, what do you think Bex? Liz?"

I started to complain, but then realized what I was doing. "Fine. Whatever you guys. Does this mean we're done talking about Zach?" I asked with some relief.

Macey pouted, but nodded. "Done." But then her mischievous grin was back on her face. It had also spread to Bex's and Liz's. "For now."

I got up and stretched. "Good. I'm going to get a croissant from Chef. Man, I've missed his cooking." And before anyone could protest, I left the room.

* * *

**Bex POV**

"Should we tell her?" Liz asked us. Out of the three of us, she was the most honest. It was an endearing quality on her, but it also made for a relief when she'd chosen the R&D track instead of fieldwork.

"Are you bloody kidding?" I laughed. "She would flip out."

"I think that would kinda be fun to see," Macey said, waggling her eyebrows. But I knew she was kidding. Telling Cammie that Zach liked her was going to agitate her so much she wouldn't be able to focus on anything until she was able to sort things out. So basically until the end of eternity arrived and hell froze over. She was like that with boys.

"Well the whole deal is already over, and there wouldn't be any point. So…I guess not?" Liz sighed, as if she had been thinking along the same lines as me and come to the same conclusion.

"No," I confirmed. "Definitely not."

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter was a little boring. I'll try to liven up the next one!**

**Also, I'm sorry but school started today, so updates might be once every other day instead of every day from now on. But I'll try my best to get them up as soon as possible :) If I don't update at least every-other day, feel free to shoot me a quick message and yell at me.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Zach POV**

I flopped down on by hard mattress.

"Ouch."

It was _really_ hard.

"So what's the big news you guys wanted to tell me?" I asked. "You were so excited over the phone."

Jonas shrugged. "You'll hear the announcement at dinner tonight."

"Oh come on. I'll be your best friend forever."

"You already are."

I threw up my hands. "Just tell me!"

"You might strangle me in excitement."

"I have _never_ strangled anybody in excitement. Why would I start now?"

Jonas looked up from his computer and blinked. "First time for everything, right?"

"You're impossible."

He flashed his white teeth at me. "Thanks."

* * *

The day crawled by impossibly slowly. Drills, classes, lunch, classes, and drills. All I wanted was for dinner to come as quickly as possible because not matter how much I pestered my three roommates, the only thing they would say was, "How well do you know Cameron Morgan?" Cryptic, much?

Finally, the dinner bell rang, and I found myself running out of class and to the dining hall before the teacher had even said, "You're dismissed."

I grabbed a plate and piled food on from the buffet, not even paying attention to what I was grabbing. Then I quickly plunked down in a seat and waited impatiently for every other boy to slowly shuffle in, fill up plates of food, and settle down.

"Hey, man," Grant greeted around a chunk of mashed potatoes.

"Hi, and eat with your mouth closed."

Grant shrugged and just shoveled more food in his mouth. I know people always say teenage boys eat like prisoners who don't expect another meal, but they've never seen Grant. He's on a whole 'nother level. Let's just say we don't say he has a big mouth just because he talks a lot!

The headmaster got up on stage and made his way to the podium. My leg started to jiggle under the table in anticipation.

"Hey, you gonna eat that?" Grant asked, gesturing to my nearly-untouched plate.

I waved my hand indicating that he could have it and then turned back to the front of the hall.

"Boys, quiet down!" the headmaster called. The room was immediately silent. "Thank you. I have a big announcement to make. Recently, I met with a woman named Rachel Morgan. I don't expect you to know who she is, so I will make it clear to you. She is the headmaster at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women."

I glanced over at Jonas and Nick in surprise, but their faces were both set in smug grins. I was so out of the loop.

"We met to discuss an enrichment opportunity our two schools have never seen before. Now let me make it clear to you that Gallagher is not just any rich private school for girls. It's a rich private _spy_ school for girls."

Whispers started to break out all over the hall, but a stern cough and glare from the headmaster shut them up.

"Headmaster Morgan and I both felt that, despite the exceptional education you receive in school, our pupils our still ignorant _because they know nothing about their other half_. Boys, exactly how much do you know about girls? If you've been following our rules, it shouldn't be much. So Headmaster Morgan and I are now offering this extra credit opportunity. We are having an exchange with the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women and I have a sign-up sheet right here with thirty spots open."

Almost half the room stood up right there to get to the sheet first.

The headmaster looked as if he wanted to laugh. "Now, now, boys. Before you come rushing up here in testosterone-fueled lust – because we all know what you're thinking now – at least try to think about it. Are you prepared to be embarrassed? To put up with all of the crazy that comes with girls? Maybe even to be beaten at your own game? Because let me assure you, boys. These girls are good."

_I second that_, I thought. _If they're anything, they're good._

"So in order to sign up, you'll have to make an appointment with me. And _I_ will be making the executive decision of whether or not you go. Oh, and I'm sorry if I didn't mention this before because I've gotten your hopes up, but juniors and seniors only."

I collective groan resounded through the room.

"But I do believe some younger girls will be coming to stay here at Blackthorne as well. So all is not lost! Think about it boys. Either choice is a walk on the wild side. After all, we're letting crazy hormonal teens mix. The question is, where will you get the most out of it?"

"I can't believe you guys didn't tell me this," I finally said, turning back to my tablemates. "You're not that good at keeping secrets. Especially such huge ones."

"I'm offended," Nick joked.

"We're so going," Grant added around some green beans.

"Okay tiger. But that whole 'eat with your mouth closed' thing I was talking about earlier? It applies even more now if you want to get your British girl," I warned.

But all I could think about was that _I_ suddenly had a chance to get my _Gallagher_ girl.

* * *

**Cammie POV**

"They're _what!?_" I nearly screeched.

"They're coming here. And some of our girls are going there," Macey answered calmly. She was sitting opposite me on my bed and filing her nails as if the world wasn't about to end.

"They can't be! I don't want to see him again! That was the single most embarrassing moment in my life."

"I thought it was sweet how he helped you with the glass afterwards," Liz offered.

"But he was mad at me. I attacked his aunt. And he ditched me on the way home or something because we weren't in the same taxi or helicopter," I protested.

"That could mean anything." Bex raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think you're overreacting a little? He might not even be chosen to come here."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. You're right. Calm down, Cammie."

But the moment I thought about him coming to stay here for the semester, my heart rate picked right back up again. I fell face-first onto my pillow and groaned. When I spoke, my voice came out muffled.

"I'm so toast."

* * *

**AND THE ZAMMIE BEGINS!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Zach POV**

The four hour drive down to Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women was exceptionally quiet. Weird, considering there were thirty teenage boys in the van, driving closer and closer to girls.

Girls.

The word felt weird on my tongue. We never talked about them. We never had reason to. It was just about training. But now, we were training with…girls.

Grant nudged me and whispered in my ear. "You lookin' forward to seeing Cammie?"

But of course, being spies, everybody heard. I was immediately bombarded with questions.

"You know one of the girls?"

"When did you meet her?"

"How did you meet her?"

"How did you get out of Blackthorne to meet her?"

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks a lot, Grant." I turned back to the group. "I only knew her for a day and not very well."

But the boys looked around at each other and I heard one phrase being murmured around the van: "Zach has dibs on that Cammie girl."

Grant looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "You were saying?"

I tried to ignore the fact that Grant had made my personal mission a ton easier and just looked out the window. Two hours and sixteen minutes to go.

* * *

**Cammie POV**

The morning the boys were scheduled to arrive, the Grand Hall was about half as full as it usually was for breakfast. The teachers all looked baffled, but my roommates and I knew exactly what was going on. A lot of girls had skipped to primp for the boys.

When Macey and Bex and Liz had tried to drag me out of bed at 5:30 that morning, I had flat out refused to get up and relinquish sleep over some idiot boys that would soon look at me like Zach did. Like I a boring piece of drapery or something. I wasn't as supermodel-y as Macey, or as exotically beautiful as Bex, or as smart as Liz, but I didn't deserve that expression, either.

Macey hadn't spent any extra time on her appearance than she normally did, but she was still, as usual, flawless. She had gotten Bex and Liz to agree to put on some eye makeup. And while I was asleep, Liz had used one of her prototype inventions and modified all of our uniforms so they hugged us a little tighter. So we were all wearing that. Not that I was particularly happy about it.

"This is ridiculous," I complained. "Every girl knows the nutritional importance of breakfast to have a productive, functioning day. And yet they're all in fantasyland playing dress up."

"It'll wear off soon," Macey promised. "But until then, put your best face forward, okay?"

And Macey was the boy expert, so I didn't say anything. Even if I would've liked to ignore a certain one a lot more than 'put my best face forward' for him.

* * *

I was in COW making up the pop quiz I had missed on the first day of school when the PA system came on.

"If all girls could report down to the front foyer, please," my mother's voice came through. "Leave all materials in classrooms. This is not an emergency, but file down as quickly and quietly as possible."

"Let the crazy begin," I muttered to Macey as we walked out of the classroom.

We were on the second floor for COW, so instead of going down the stairs, our class just stood on the balcony overhanging the foyer. Macey, Bex, Liz, and I were all right in front so we could see what was happening.

In the center of the foyer, stood thirty boys. They all stood stiffy. Either they were all nervous, or they had had an extra long car ride here. From the smirk on one of the boys' face, I was going to guess the car ride. They were excited to be here, not nervous.

Uh oh. Smirk.

"It's _him_," I hissed at Macey and immediately ducked behind Bex.

"He's looking up here, but I don't know if he saw you," Liz said. She shifted uncomfortably. "He's staring at me."

"It's the hair," I said. "He's looking for my hair."

Liz visibly relaxed. "You're right. He looked away." She leaned back a little to see me and then poked my arm with a huge grin on his face. "He's _looking_ for you."

"Macey?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Could mean anything. He could be looking for you to harass you more, as you put it, but personally I don't think he was harassing you at the hotel. He seemed concerned. So more likely, he's looking for you just to tease you with friendly intentions."

My mother interrupted our little conversation.

"Girls, please welcome the boys from the Blackthorne Institute. They will be staying with us for the semester."

But of course, every girl knew that, so half of them were sleep-deprived, food-deprived, and possibly in pain from being burned with curling and flat irons.

"I hope you will welcome them into your schedules with open arms," my mother continued, "and embrace the collaborative nature of this exchange."

_Oh, they'll be embracing something all right_, I thought. Bex must've been thinking along the same lines because she snorted. I love my friends.

"Cammie, did you hear that? You'll be embracing Zach soon," she laughed.

I take back what I said about loving my friends.

My mother started to speak again, trying to quell the noise that had broken out in the foyer. "Girls, back to your classes. Boys, follow me and we'll get you situated."

I heard Tina Walters say next to me, "I wouldn't mind being situated next to him," and I just internally sighed. I was so over this exchange.

* * *

Next period, in C&A, the boys arrived. I mean, they'd already arrived, but now they showed up in our classes.

A teacher led four boys into our room and I almost groaned to see Zach in the group.

"G'morning, Madame Dabney," the teacher said jovially. "I'm Dr. Steve, and these are four of my young charges." (I saw Zach roll his eyes at that) "They'll introduce themselves and then have a seat. We don't want to disrupt your class too much." He nudged the first of them forward.

"Hi," he said rather shyly. "My name's Jonas Anderson, and I'm on the research track."

Jonas hurried to the back of the room where four empty seats stood. Dr. Steve waved up the next boy.

"My name's Grant Newman, and I'm on the fieldwork track."

"Hi I'm Nick Allen, and I'm also on the fieldwork track."

And finally _he_ stepped up. "I'm Zach Goode. And I'm in fieldwork, too."

Nothing special, nothing fancy. Except for the fact that he stared at me the whole time he was saying it.

I tried my best to look uninterested and indifferent.

* * *

Dinner that night was a free-for-all. It was like boys were being served and the girls just couldn't wait to get their hands on them. Like when chef cooks his world-famous, fresh Italian pizza. But they were _boys_.

I was sitting next to my friends and discussing the insane amount of work we suddenly had when a boy slid in next to me. I glanced over and was relieved to find it wasn't Zach. He stuck his hand out for me to shake.

"Hi. I'm Will."

I smiled. "Hi, nice to meet you, Will. I'm Cammie," I introduced. I wasn't flattered that he came over so much as relieved it wasn't Zach.

"So what's your clearance? Because you look like you're almost out of my league."

My heart dropped and Macey burst out laughing. So much for finding a nice, normal boy. I raised an eyebrow unamused. "Really?"

Will never lost his cool. "Oh totally," he answered, as if he was oblivious to the fact that I was questioning his judgment and sanity instead of asking him for confirmation. "You're one of the hottest girls here."

"Go away," I groaned.

"You heard the pretty lady," a voice came from behind me. Great. Just great. Get rid of one problem, and the next one is even larger. "She said to go away."

Will finally began to look embarrassed. "Sorry man. I didn't mean to disrespect the rule of dibs…" His voice trailed off when he realized he had said it in front of me. He ducked out quickly and walked away so fast he was creating a draft.

"Dibs? Are you kidding? You were going off on me about my stupidity just the other day, and now suddenly you have _dibs_ on me?"

I stormed out of the Grand Hall as Liz called after me, "We'll bring your dinner up afterwards!"

I threw the okay sign over my shoulder as I walked out and slammed the door.

* * *

**Zach POV**

Will is so going to get it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Cammie POV**

The door opened slowly.

"Thank god you made it up, Liz," I said as I sat up. "I was starv-" I stopped as soon as I saw who it is. Grant, the boy from C&A. "What do you want?"

"Uhm…" Grant looked kind of nervous, and I softened my expression. He wasn't the one I was mad at. Although I _was_ wondering how he got in our room. "Uhm…well, I was here to see if Bex was here. But I see she's not, sooo…"

He started to bow out the door but then turned back around again.

"As long as I'm here," he said, and a mischievous grin started to spread over his face. "I thought I should let you know the whole dibs thing wasn't Zach's fault."

"I don't want to hear about it."

"But-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"But-"

"I think you beat Bex on the annoying-o-meter," I grumbled. He grinned widely.

"He likes you," he blurted.

"Ha. Very funny."

"It's true. But he didn't call dibs on you or anything. In fact, he sort of- kind of- tried to discourage it. But once the other boys found out he knew you, they kind of insisted they all stay away from you. And I think Will was sleeping when that happened. I always knew he was an idiot."

I almost laughed. Grant had kind of an infectious personality.

"Thanks. Good to know." He grinned, but when he didn't budge I finally had to add, "Get out of my room." And for good measure, I threw in, "Please."

He exited. "Let Bex know I was here," he called over his shoulder.

"No problem," I called back and then lay back down.

My stomach rumbled.

"Stupid Will."

* * *

"Hi," I said as I sat down in the seat in front of him.

A fleeting look of surprise crossed his face, but he pulled it back almost immediately. "Hi," he finally said in return. There was a painfully awkward pause. "Look-"

I almost winced. If there was anything I wanted to avoid, it was a big messy apology.

"It's okay. I get it. Let's just forget everything that's happened so far between us, okay?"

But unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen because before Madame Dabney could begin class, the horns began to blare and the lights blinked out. Zach swore under his breath.

"Crap. Cammie, do you still have the ring on you?"

I blinked. That came out of nowhere, especially considering we had just agreed to put everything behind us. He knew something.

"No…" I said suspiciously. "I gave it to Agents James and Peters."

"Crap, crap, crap," he muttered. Suddenly he stood up. "Come with me." When I didn't move to join him, he grabbed my arm. "Now."

"Hey, let go of me! I'm not going anywhere with you."

Zach sighed. "I know you know about my aunt," he finally said. Again, really random. But I wasn't fighting it. I just wanted answers. "But you have to believe me when I say that I am _not on her side_. I have nothing to do with the Circle."

I had never heard of this Circle business, but I didn't let it show on my face and made a mental note for Liz to do some major research after this commotion. I also had an inner war with myself, wondering whether or not I should trust Zach. Finally I gave up.

"Fine. But this better not be anything fishy. I have the girls on speed dial."

He laughed but it sounded strained. "Quickly. Take me to your room right now."

I looked at him like he was crazy, but did it anyway. "You know, if you were looking to invade my personal space, you should probably know you've already done it," I joked weakly. "A couple days ago, in fact."

He raised an eyebrow as we ran. "If you were worried about getting close, Gallagher Girl…we're about to get a lot closer," he said cryptically.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, but he never answered.

I unlocked the door to my room.

"Pack," he commanded, already flipping through the bureau (which contained Liz and Bex's clothes, not mine, by the way).

"Excuse me?" I pulled him away from the bureau. "Leave the stuff alone." I crossed my arms. "Tell me exactly what's going on here."

"My guess is as good as yours, Gallagher Girl," he said. He was searching around now for something.

"Well it looks like your guess would actually be a lot better than mine," I declared, "seeing as how you seem to know a lot more than the average bystander."

"Spy." He pointed to himself.

"Now's not a good time for witticisms!" I snapped. "What's going on?"

"There's a group after the crystal. And because we were involved at some point, they're after us. Now pack! We don't have a lot of time. And ditch the cell phone. It'll make our location too easy to find, and nobody can track us."

I still didn't move, so he grabbed a duffel from the standing wardrobe and started stuffing clothes in there at random, accidently throwing some of Macey's in there as well. Finally, I moved.

"You're messing things up," I sighed.

He relinquished hold over the duffel and started to leave. "I'm going to get my stuff together, too," he called. "Pack enough for at least a week. Meet me in Sublevel Five."

And then he was gone, leaving me completely confused and disoriented. For God's sake, I didn't even _know_ how to get into Sublevel Five! The only thing he had said that got through to me was that the Circle – whatever that was – was after us because of the crystal. Which meant that if I stayed, I put all of my friends and sisters in danger. That's what motivated me to add clothes and toiletries and food to the duffel. My packing was almost messier than Zach's. I just threw things in at random.

Now. For that Sublevel Five business.

* * *

**Because this is separate from the actual Gallagher series, the Circle that Zach mentioned is not going to be the Circle of Cavan. It's just a mysterious group for you guys. For now. Muahahaha. Just kidding. But I'm excited! Are you? They're going on a trip together!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Cammie POV**

I stared at the reflective metal doors in front of me, unsure what to do. I only had level three clearance. How was I going to get down to level five? There was no way I was getting through the elevator. That thing was locked tighter than the boys' mini-fridge (what? You didn't think we were going to snoop? They were staying at our school!).

But I had no other ideas, so I just stared dully at the doors. And then it suddenly hit me.

* * *

**Zach POV**

Girls take forever. And I'm not just talking about the bathroom, or getting ready to go on dates. No. Apparently, they take forever when getting to the rendezvous point.

Great. As if I needed another reason to worry.

* * *

**Cammie POV**

I was strongly tempted to cough and hack my guts out.

It was because of the smell.

I had taken Liz's new prototype car out for a spin in Roseville (something I was totally going to severely regret when I next saw her) and parked it next to the gazebo where I used to hide my notes for Josh. There was a manhole nearby, and making sure nobody was watching, I had slid through the manhole and dropped onto narrow pavement.

The sewers. They were the only things I could think of that would lead far enough underground to lead to the Subs indirectly.

As I began walking, I realized that the sewers were highly complicated, with intersections and branches leading to who-knows-where.

They were also highly smelly.

If I ever found Zach after this, I was going to kill him. I walked in the general direction of Gallagher Academy, keeping a general map of what was aboveground in my head. Eventually, the sewers began to slope downwards and I had to sit back in my heels so I didn't rush down the hill.

The stink intensified.

After what must've been a solid ten minutes of walking, I reached an open (well…as open as it gets underground) room. The smell was the worst in here because it was literally just a holding room for the sewage as it waited to get taken in and processed by giant tanks with rotors on the far wall. I held my breath and crossed over to a door labeled, "Construction."

I pitied whoever worked in construction and hoped they had plenty of nose plugs.

As soon as I entered the room, I sighed in relief. I could breathe normally again. Er…normall-er. I was in what was basically a dirt tunnel. It looked like construction was cutting out a new sewage line to add to the city system. It made sense, because there was a new set of houses being built near Roseville that would be needing toilets.

I was going the right way.

I followed the tunnel down and soon hit a fork. If the map in my head was correct, the Academy was just west of here, which meant the subs were nearby. I took the left fork and as I walked, I thought about my friends.

I was both glad and upset they weren't with me. Glad because Liz would totally be freaking out about the tiny dirty space right about now (oh all right, also because they wouldn't be in danger), but upset that I was alone. For the moment. Supposedly, I would be with Zach soon. Yippee.

The path stopped abruptly and I sighed. Great. Looked like I was going to get dirty after all.

I unhooked the tool from my belt and rifled through all the modes it could be before settling on the one I wanted. I pressed the button and two little rotors came unfolding out of the top. They began to spin slowly, then faster and faster until they became a blur.

I brought up the map in my head again and decided I had to drill a little more downwards and to the west to get back to the Academy. So I began.

I drilled enough that I could fit into the hole plus a little more before jumping in. There was a nice amount of loose dirt under my feet so I switched the modes on my gadget (a prototype by Liz, if you were wondering) and slowly worked, packing the dirt back above my head (it would be idiotic to leave a trail for the construction workers to find, after all). It took time, and by the time I was done, I was surrounded on all sides by dirt, like I was in a little capsule. Now I was _really_ glad Liz wasn't with me. She would've been freaking out.

I kept on digging and rebuilding. Finally, the rotors on my tool hit open air and all the dirt fell out from under me. Luckily, I was at enough of an angle that I didn't fall right out of my tunnel with the dirt, but I slipped a little. I jumped the five feet back onto the ground and threw as much dirt as I could back into the hole. No point in getting lazy now.

Finally I gave up, sufficiently dirty.

I took a look around. Zach was standing at the far end of the hallway with a quizzical expression on his face. I started. Had he been watching me rearrange dirt for five minutes? That was embarrassing.

I walked over but his eyebrows wouldn't unfurrow. He was looking at me like he couldn't figure me out. Like I was either really genius or really stupid.

"What?" I finally asked.

"You could've just used the elevators…"

* * *

**Zach POV**

Oh. So she _hadn't_ been pampering all this time. She'd been playing with dirt.

Something about Cammie was special. She was smart enough to get into Sublevel Five without triggering an alarm, savvy enough to do it with a full backpack on her back, and shy enough to be embarrassed about the amount of dirt on her skin and clothes afterwards (For the record, I think she looked even cuter _because _of the dirt. Her agitated rubbing was adorable).

"What?" she demanded, and she looked even more flustered. The color flooding to her cheeks almost made me laugh.

"You could've just used the elevators," I grinned.

I held up a key card and motioned to the grey box behind me. Each Sublevel had a system manager that allowed a teacher to enter the names of students allowed into that sublevel. Years ago, Joe had let me in. I had come down and entered Cammie's name in as well. But I guess I'd never told her.

Oops.

Her face dropped. "You're kidding," she said flatly.

I tried to hold it in, but ended up bursting out laughing anyway. "Cammie, do you have any idea what you look like right now?"

I reached up to pull a clump of soil out of her hair. She swatted my hand away grumpily

"Let's just go."

I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Instead I led her through Sub 5. As we walked, I heard her mutter, "You better be taking me somewhere with a shower."

I was laughing again.


	14. Chapter 14

**To all my amazing readers out there, I'm so sorry it's been so long. It's not that I've been caught up in school, I just couldn't figure this plot out. But I think I got it, so my updates should probably be coming every other day now. It will go back to regular. :) Thanks for being so patient!**

* * *

Chapter 14

**Cammie POV**

"Agent James and Agent Peters work for the Circle," Zach informed me as he walked briskly down the hallway. "They're moles in the CIA."

I looked at him, something suddenly clicking in my brain. I glanced at him suspiciously. "Okay…so you decided to go on that mission even though you knew we'd be helping the Circle?" I still had no idea what the Circle was, but I knew they weren't on good terms with the CIA.

He looked frustrated. "_No_. I went on the mission to _prevent_ the Circle from getting what they wanted. Things just happened…too quickly. You turned over the ring before I had a chance to stop you."

I had a distinct feeling of being thrust underwater without a life preserver.

"I really have no idea what you're talking about, Zach," I replied. I stopped walking. "How do I know if I can even trust you? I barely know you." The longer I thought about it, the more sense it made. "You know, I should go back. When Macey, Bex, and Liz wake up, they're going to go ballistic."

I started to turn around before he grabbed my arm hard. But I was expecting that, so I just flipped him over my shoulder. He landed in front of me with a thud.

"Good one, Gallagher Girl," he wheezed, trying to catch his breath.

I just stood with my arms crossed, looking down over him. When he finally stood up, I said, "I deserve an explanation, Zach."

He huffed, frustrated. "I _told_ you. I barely know more than you. And just because I do doesn't mean I owe you anything." He stared at me with a blank expression. "Stay here if you want. But you of all people should know, with your secret tunnels and all, that the Academy is not totally impenetrable. They'll get you eventually."

My voice came out a lot weaker than I wanted it to. "Why do they want me?"

Zach took the opportunity to grab my arm again and continue to drag me down the hall. His tug was insistent, but when he spoke, his voice had less of an edge. "It's nothing personal. They want you for the ring." He glanced at me. "Think hard, Cammie. When you held the ring, did you feel anything special?"

Despite the genuine vibe I was getting off him, I decided that if I ever did remember anything, I wouldn't be telling him right away.

"No."

He sighed and I let myself be pulled along the tunnel.

* * *

**Macey POV**

I lay in bed in that half-dream state, where you can think but the thoughts aren't totally clear. A thought crossed my mind, and I scrambled up to check the clock. It was Thursday. A school day. And it was already seven o' clock.

Usually Cammie took it upon herself to wake us all up by 6:15, but today she was…_missing_.

I pushed out of bed and winced when my feet hit the freezing tiles. I yelled at Bex and Liz to get up as I ran to the door. Poking my head out in the hall, I saw nothing going on. Behind me, I could hear my two friends struggling with the sheets as they popped out of bed.

"Cammie's gone," I murmured before racing out into the hallway.

"Bloody hell, not this again," I heard Bex mutter before the door clicked shut.

I crossed my fingers as I ran up the stairs to the hallway overlooking the grand foyer. Sometimes Cammie wouldn't be able to sleep and would grab a book to go read in the curtained alcoves that looked out onto the Gallagher grounds. I hoped to God she would be curled up asleep in one of them.

Nothing.

I raced to the library and in my head, the words, _We should have known_, repeated over and over again. If Cammie was asleep at one of the tables, studying, everything would be okay.

Nothing.

Down to Chef's. He said he hadn't seen her since yesterday at breakfast.

I checked all of the secret passages that I knew about (not nearly as many as Cammie did, but it was worth a shot). Nothing.

I left the last passageway – Cammie's favorite, behind the tapestry – and just stood there. Cammie was gone. Again.

I heard someone clear their throat behind me and I nearly jumped. But it was a testimony to the exceptional curriculum at Gallagher that I could turn around calmly and raise an eyebrow at Nick like I was just surprised he had the nerve to talk to me. I waited for him to say something.

Finally, he said, "Nice pajamas."

And I suddenly realized that in my frenzy, I hadn't changed out of my booty shorts and camisole. And for whatever reason, I, Macey McHenry, became embarrassed. It wasn't a self-conscious thing. It wasn't even anything I could explain. He wasn't even the first guy to see me this exposed (although, to many people's surprise, I have never done more than kiss a guy). It was just flustering.

"Thanks," I replied shortly, and then spun on my heel to get out of there as fast as possible.

Nick took a step to follow me. "Is there something wrong, Macey?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. "No. I just wanted to look at the family tree before breakfast."

"Before changing, too," he noted, jerking his chin at my sad state of clothing.

I felt my cheeks heat up. "That too. Good bye, Nick."

And with that, I left to go find my two best friends. I was surprised that he hadn't pushed me more for information. I was surprised that he even found me. But what I was most surprised about, was that he had made me forget – if only for a moment – about Cammie.

I chewed on my bottom lip. Nick was a bad influence. All he had done was talk to me, and that had distracted me from the important things.

It would be better for everyone in the end if I kept my distance.

* * *

**So somebody (I don't remember who) asked for some other romances besides Zammie, so I'm starting it up! I hope it'll be interesting to see Macey, Bex, and Liz's relationships, too!**

**I'm open to any other suggestions, as well. I may not be able to use all of them, but I will definitely try to fit it into the plot.**

**And finally, thank you all for being such good readers and reviewers! The days I post, my email is flooded with reviews and compliments and suggestions and it really makes my day. So thank you!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Cammie POV**

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "This is where we're staying?" I gestured to Mr. Solomon's cabin and the woods around us. "You realize that this is going to be the first place they look for us, especially after the last time."

I didn't say _last time I ran away._ There was no need to. The unspoken words hung in the air like a hammer.

"We're only stopping by to pick up some supplies," Zach clarified, not looking at me.

He was pulling canned foods and bottled water and other items out of the cabinets and throwing them in his duffel bag. I stood silent watching him for a moment. When I spoke, my voice was quiet, almost reverent of the abode.

"I feel like we're thieves cleaning out a house."

Zach glanced back, a bitter smile on his face. "That's exactly what we're doing. And when your mom and the rest of them come by later, they'll know that at least we have the provisions to take care of ourselves for a while. At least a week."

I stood watching for a while longer until the silence became almost oppressive. It was as if Zach knew I was guarded against him, and so he had put up walls, too. It made the atmosphere tense.

I stared down at my running shoes. "I'll be in the car."

I started to turn around and walk out the door, but Zach was in front of me before I could walk three steps.

"No, Cammie," he almost growled, his voice low and urgent. "We have to stay together, okay? If you go off again on your own…"

His voice trailed off and he didn't make any effort to finish the sentence. And suddenly, I knew that he knew about the last time. I had no idea how he knew, or why he even cared. All I could comprehend at the moment was that I was drowning, falling into his eyes.

They were stormy, and just as breathtaking as the first time I saw them, and – oh god what was I even saying?

I broke away and stomped over to the bed in the corner. "Fine."

I lay down with a huff and rolled onto my side so my back was facing him. I heard him start to pull things off the shelves again, but I tried not to think about him. Instead, I focused on Macey and Bex and Liz and my mom and Mr. Solomon and all the people I had left behind. Again.

"We're ready to go," Zach interrupted.

He came over as I sat up and grabbed my hand to pull me up. I followed him out the door before suddenly realizing there was one more thing I wanted to do before I left.

"Do you have paper?" I asked.

Zach fished around in his pocket and produced an old receipt. He handed it over without asking anything. He knew what I was doing.

I ran back into the house. "I'll be two minutes," I called over my shoulder.

Pulling a pen out of my pocket, I quickly fashioned a note and dropped it on the counter before returning back to Zach. I didn't want my friends or family to be upset or mad or whatever other feeling came with betrayal. I climbed back into the car and slammed the door without a word.

Zach pealed out of the long driveway, and we disappeared into the early sun.

* * *

**Zach POV**

Driving in the car with Cammie was peaceful. She was sleeping on the seat beside me; we hadn't gotten much the night before. It was still early in the morning, so the roads were nearly empty. And despite the danger we were in, the day was blooming bright and clear.

I pulled out my phone. Sneaking one more furtive glance at Cammie, I decided she was out cold and it was safe to make a quick call to Grant.

I was greeted with a groan and a loud "WHAT" from his end of the line.

"I'm sorry I had to call," I whispered. I didn't want to take any chances with Cammie. She was better than most people would give her credit for on first glance.

Grant suddenly seemed awake. "Yeah, why are you calling? You should be in the bed across from me. And why are you whispering? You're not in, like…Cammie's room or anything, are you? Because I know you say you move fast, but man that was…like the Flash fast. And as far as I know, you're not a superhero."

I wanted to groan. "Grant, why is it the first thing you think of is girls? For _everything_. Every subject I bring up. Girls, girls, girls."

He snorted. "Come on. Like you don't do it, either. You just don't say it. If we're going to be teenage boys, we might as well live up to the stereotype."

"That's a terrible attitude," I chastised, but I was half-joking. "Anyway, that's not why I'm calling. I need your help."

"Uh oh."

"No, no, it's not anything bad. Yet. Do you have that file on Cammie saved still?"

I heard the bed groan as Grant got up to look at the computer. I also heard him mutter, "See? I knew this was about girls" under his breath. I waited for a minute.

"Uh…yeah," he finally said. And then before I could say something else, he added, "I'll send it to you right now."

And that is why Grant was my best friend.

"But it might take a long time to load when you open it; it's like…thirty pages long. So if you need it right away, it's probably not the thing to be looking to."

"It's fine, Grant. Thanks man. I owe you."

"I'm collecting on that right now. Don't call me between the hours of eleven pm and seven am again. It's a terrible habit you're building."

I could hear the smile in my words. "Got it. See you."

"Good luck with the _girl_," I heard Grant joke as the line went dead.

I sighed. I needed as much luck as I could get. I glanced over at Cammie again. She hadn't moved, but the car had changed positions so the sun was behind her head. Stray gold-blonde locks framed her face and the sun behind her made them a halo around her head.

Watching a girl sleep was a little bit creepy, but it was also a little bit intimate (in the least kinkiest sense of the word). It wasn't anything you're supposed to see until you've taken her out on dates, and earned her trust and love, and bore pain together. She was absolutely vulnerable in that position.

My breath hitched in my throat and my heart sped up a little. I tried to pass it off as because of the fact that I had just run through a red light that I hadn't seen (too busy looking at something else…).

There would be nothing good that would come out of liking Cammie. Not in our business. Not with our dreams, and my aunt, and her brand of mystery. Not now, and maybe not ever.

* * *

**Okay, so sappy much? Sorry, but somebody asked if I could start warming things up between Zach and Cammie, so now at least we know how ****_he_**** feels...**

**And I'm sorry, this chapter was total filler. I'll get some action out to you this weekend. Promise :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Cammie POV**

_The crystal sat small and powerful in my hand, glittering in the light from the grand chandelier above. It was no longer embedded in the ring, and its size was no bigger than a pea. A formal ball whirled around me, dancers waltzing, ball gowns swishing, champagne glasses clinking. But I stood still in the soft yellow light, oddly more alone than ever. _

_ I felt a heartbeat in my palm, but it wasn't mine. Almost imperceptibly, the crystal was pulsing. There was something alive about it, and something feral ~ a quality that would make almost anyone dropped it and run screaming._

_ I finally looked around me, slipping the crystal into the lacey black clutch I hadn't even realized I was carrying. Looking down, I saw I was wearing a black, floor-length dress. It was a hi-lo skirt, but the areas in front where my legs would be exposed were framed and mostly covered by intricate lace. The bodice hugged me flatteringly, the fabric gathered at a cinch at the top of the dress. The flow and set of the dress, I could tell, accentuated my hips and narrow waist._

Macey's work, no doubt_, I thought with a grin. Only she could come up with something this provocative but still keep it PG._

_ As I looked up again, somebody grabbed my waist from behind and I had to struggle to keep from flipping them over. We were in the middle of a ball, after all._

_ "What do you want, Zach?" I hissed as I turned around in his arms._

_ Instead of the guarded but amused expression I had come to know, his eyes were wide and worried._

_ "The map," he gasped, and I suddenly realized a red, angry slash ran across his abdomen. It stood out in sharp contrast to his crisp white dress shirt and black suit coat. "Cammie, I need the map right now."_

_ I shook my head, bewildered and slightly panicked from his expression. "Zach, I…I have no idea what's happening. What map?"_

_ Zach closed his eyes and shook his head, grimacing in pain. "Cammie, you don't understand. This is really important. I need that map right now."_

_ And suddenly his eyes were wide open and luminescent. They gazed down at me with an intensity I had never seen before. And then, without warning, his lips were on mine, too. They were warm and soft and tasted a little like fresh apples. We kissed for less than five seconds, but when he pulled away, I was dizzy and even more disoriented than before. It felt like I was falling down the rabbit hole, swirling, tumbling, spinning._

_ "The map…" Zach gasped, and I was worried he was going to pass out in the middle of the dance floor. "…in the crystal…"_

_ And everything turned black._

* * *

I woke up with a start.

We were still in the car Zach had "borrowed" from Liz. (If anything happened to this car, the only thing I could guarantee would be that if Zach and I weren't already hurt, we soon would be. Liz was small, but like a mother bear when it came to her experiments)

Zach glanced at me curiously.

"Crazy dream," I muttered.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't question any further, for which I was extremely grateful. Almost subconsciously, I raised a hand to my mouth, where I could almost still feel Zach's lips on mine. Yup, that was a crazy dream all right.

But despite the weirder side of it, something had caught my attention. Zach had been going on about a map. I had no leads on it, and didn't know if maybe the map was something totally made up by my subconscious mind, so I really only had one choice.

"Zach," I started hesitantly.

He raised his eyebrows again to let me know he was listening.

"What do you know…about a map?"

He looked at me. "Well, they're typically on drawn on paper and issued by a credible organization that has done extensive topographical research. They will probably denote areas of interest such as national parks or renowned sites, and may also show the landscape of a region, such as mountains, rivers, and lakes."

I ignored the urge to slap his arm.

"No, jerk. I meant did you know anything about a map…" I hesitated, second-guessing myself before plowing on. "A map in the crystal?"

He jerked a little in surprise.

"Hang on, I'm going to pull over," he finally said.

He exited the highway and parked slowly in a rest stop. Getting out of the car, he stretched and yawned widely. It was like he had forgotten about my question, how casually he was acting. I followed him into the building. There were quite a few people inside, and I suddenly realized he had brought me in because if he talked in a low murmur, no one would be able to hear.

"Where is this coming from?" he asked quietly.

I debated on whether or not I really should tell him or not, but finally relented, realizing we couldn't really be on the same trip together and hide things from each other. The only thing I would hide from him would be my identity. I was the Chameleon, and that meant hiding things – especially who I was. If things turned out badly, I would at least have my cover.

"The dream," I finally said. "It was from the weird dream."

Zach eyes narrowed, but it didn't look like he was mad. Just like he had hit a puzzle that he couldn't solve. "I…I don't think that was just a dream, Cammie. What else happened?"

My face flushed. Even so, I tried to keep my face straight so as not to reveal anything was wrong. I was _not_ going to repeat out loud to Zach what else had happened. It was mortifying beyond belief that my brain had come up with that.

"Nothing. You just kept rambling about that map."

"_I_ kept rambling about a map? I thought you just had a dream about a map. _I _was in your dream?" Zach asked, and a mischievous twinkle began to gleam in his eye.

Oh dear.

"Yes," I almost whispered, averting my eyes.

"What was I doing? What were we doing? Where were we?"

I spoke up, my voice a notch louder than usual, trying to drown out Zach's questions. "Okay! Now that we've established the basic premise and conflict in the dream, can we move on?" I started to storm out of the rest stop building. I was _not_ going to be pulled into _that_ conversation.

Zach quickly caught up to me and settled into a brisk walk beside me. When we got back in the car, I finally looked at him again.

"Where exactly are you taking us?"

"We're driving down to Florida. And then we'll be flying out of Florida to go to Italy."

"Italy?"

"The Circle is an old organization, Cammie."

"Don't use that patronizing tone. I may not know much about the Circle, but I can at least tell they're organized and proficient in what they do. I can tell they're old."

"Okay, well they're _really_ old. And so they are definitely not based in the US. Italy held one of the oldest European civilizations of all time. And that's where the Circle is based."

"You seem to know a lot about this Circle."

Zach muttered something under his breath and I could barely make it out: "Much more than I'd like to."

I settled back into my seat and stared out the window.

Italy. Again.


End file.
